Eustis Boy, 14, Drowns In Lake

March 30, 1988

A 14-year-old Eustis boy drowned Tuesday while playing with friends in a small lake east of Apopka.

Raymond Cutliss, 312 W. Stevens Ave., and nine other teen-agers were playing with a basketball at 1:30 p.m. in Lake Opal in north Orange County, said sheriff's spokesman Randy Means. One of the teen-agers threw the ball into the deep end of the lake, and Cutliss and another boy swam after it. Cutliss' companion swam back to shore, Means said, but Cutliss yelled for help and went under the water. The teen-agers ran about a mile to reach a telephone and called police.

A rescue team found Cutliss' body at 4:45 p.m. in 15 feet of water and 150 feet off shore.